A DISABLED pensioner has spoken of her terror after being attacked by a robber outside her home.

Vera Wightman, 79, and her jeweller son Jeremy, 45, were ambushed by the man as they sat in a car at the back of King Street, Whalley.

The attacker burst into their red Mazda, grabbed Vera and pulled a chain from her neck.

She said he then attempted to wrestle her gold Rolex watch from her arm before fighting with Jeremy as he tried to protect his mother.

The thug, who also grabbed bags and a computer from the car, fled up an alleyway into the Grove, where he joined an accomplice on a motorbike and made his escape.

It is the second time retired Vera and her son, who runs Gem Service jeweller’s in Moor Lane, Clitheroe, have been targeted, following a burglary at the house in May.

Vera has now offered a £1,000 reward to anybody who can provide information that leads to the prosecution of the robbers.

She said: “I didn't see his face, I was screaming.

“He grabbed the bags out of the back seat, then he grabbed me and pulled my chain off my neck and twisted my arm.

“He tried to get my watch but it dropped on the floor.

“Jeremy jumped on him and they were fighting for a few minutes, but he got away with the bags.

“Jeremy has a bad leg, he had a motorbike accident, so he couldn't run after him.

“He has been absolutely dreadful since, I think he has a broken finger and he can't sleep. They are swines.”

Police said they believed the latest incident, around 6.20pm on Thursday, was ‘pre-planned and organised’ and the victims had been followed ‘in recent days’.

The robber made off with £800 in cash, a black Nike bag, a laptop, a Sony PSP console and a small black handbag with tassels.

Vera said her home was previously raided on May 25 while she and her son were in Blackburn.

She said crooks kicked in a door and a window and made off with around £5,000 in cash, a video camera, leather handbag and her jewellery.

She said: “They cut up all my coats, I don't know why, they must be hooligans.

“They took the keys to the shop so Jeremy had to have all the locks changed.”

Jeremy moved in to live with his mum earlier this year and she said they would not be forced out of Whalley.

She said: “I have been here 24 years, since my husband Stanley died. We've never had anything like this.

“I don't want to move, I have a lot of nice neighbours and I like living here.

“I think it's somebody who knows us, somebody from Clitheroe who knows what jewellery I have.

“I just hope they get these two. I'm not bothered about my money, I just hope and pray they get them because they will do this to somebody else.”

One of Vera’s neighbours comforted her friend after the attack.

The woman, in her 80s, said: “It makes you very nervous. It’s horrible, they must have been watching them and waiting.”

Whalley Ward Councillor Joyce Holgate said it was a “frightening” incident.

She said: “I’ve known Vera for a long time, she is a long-standing Whalley resident. I just hope she recovers.”

Detective Sergeant Nigel Watson, of Clitheroe CID, described the crime as an “orchestrated and well-planned” attack.

He said: “It is quite likely these offenders have been watching the victim’s movements in recent days.”

The robber in the car is described as a white man, possibly with a tanned complexion, and in his early 20s.

He was of stocky build with short dark hair.

He was wearing a blue top with white writing in a box with dark jeans and trainers.

The man on the motorcycle was white, aged about 23 to 25 and was wearing dark-coloured clothing.

The robbery is the second to happen outside a jewellers home in the village within a year.

Last August a fellow Whalley jeweller was slashed by robbers on his driveway.

Thousands of pounds worth of jewellery was stolen and the man had to undergo reconstructive surgery after he was left with severe cuts and damaged tendons to his wrist.